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Reports scooted in this morning that the Cleveland Browns were looking to get a leg up on the 2016 NFL Draft. According to NFL Insider Ian Rapoport, the Browns are in talks to throw away (er… deal away) their two best players: Left tackle Joe Thomas and center Alex Mack.
Word is that this is just all speculation and that talk is vividly cheap in the NFL. For every thousand rumors flitting about, usually only one trade actually occurs within the season, so askew notions of fire sales should come with a caveat: BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE AND NOT WHAT YOU HEAR.
Thomas is under contract through 2018 while Mack has a no-trade clause. If the trade goes down (sure thing, buddies) this will mark that the Browns are indeed throwing in the towel for the season and focusing on cleaning up the draft next year. Thomas is, without question, one of the franchise’s top notch players, but if he is traded to a well performing contender, his skills could be put to good use.
Going into Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, the 2-5 Browns are facing their toughest challenge with the next three games face the very real possibility of going into their Bye week 2-8. “You’re either passing or you’re failing,” Browns coach Mike Pettine told reporters. “This is a big juncture for us.”
Following Arizona, the Browns go on to face the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday before going against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who finally get their starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back this week. It doesn’t help that four of the Browns next five games are in the division, so every loss twists the knife a little deeper.
It’s easy to see why these rumors are sprouting up when it comes to losing one of their best players – the Browns have jacked up what was SUPPOSED to be the easy part of their schedule and has everyone scratching their heads. This could be because of the nettlesome issue with their starting quarterbacks and the fact that they hung all their hopes and dreams on off-field drama queen Johnny Manziel, the train wreck they drafted in 2014. Manziel is currently under NFL review for a possible domestic incident, though the Browns still believe he can play.
The clock is ticking since the Nov.3 trade deadline is fast approaching, so if Browns general manager Ray Farmer is going to make a move, it needs to happen fairly quickly.
